Harvesting peanuts, potatoes and the like has been a slow and tedious procedure for many years. The crops must be removed from beneath the surface of the ground and collected for transporting from the fields. In the past, such crops were plowed up to the surface of the ground and thereafter raked from the surface and deposited into collection bins.
Many improvements have been made by providing apparatus which, when moved along the surface of the ground, are adapted to dig up the crops and convey them to collection means in a combined operation. Such apparatus often includes means for separating dirt which clings to the crops from the crops as they are conveyed to the collection means as well as separating debris picked up from the surface of the ground before the crops are deposited in the collection means.
The most common method of separation is is by utilizing an endless conveyor of spaced apart rods to deliver the crops from the digging means to the collection means whereby the debris drops through the space between the rods. Typical of such apparatus is that shown by Looker U.S. Pat. No. 3,280,977.
Rogus U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,461 discloses an improvement for such machines comprised of means to agitate the conveyor to facilitate separation of dirt from the crops.
In some instances it has been found desirable to provide air blowers to remove light materials from the conveyor such as disclosed by Feller U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,276.
The present invention is an improvement over such a prior art devices. Due to the very nature of the materials handled by the machines, wear on the various parts is a large problem, particularly with the conveyor.
It is desirable that the spacing between the rods can be varied as desired to handle different variety of crops.